


A Goddess' War: The Rise of Athena

by ClassicBrie19



Category: Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, greek gods - Fandom
Genre: Astrology, Athena Parthenos (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Developing Relationship, Dreams and Nightmares, F/M, Greek Mythology - Freeform, Major Original Character(s), Minor Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov, Minor Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Mutual Pining, Not Canon Compliant, Original Character(s), Original Character-centric, Post-Avengers (2012), Pre-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Pre-Iron Man 3, Royalty, Visions in dreams
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-09-17
Packaged: 2019-10-01 23:59:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17253824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClassicBrie19/pseuds/ClassicBrie19
Summary: The Goddess Athena fell from Olympus and has lived her life in New York City ever since, hiding from her murderous brother Ares and working for S.H.I.E.L.D. as a doctor. When Steve Rogers falls victim to the mysterious attacker haunting New York's streets, Athena is swept up into the Avengers' mission. And the Avengers are caught up in her war for the throne.





	1. Prologue: The Fall

The sting of fresh wounds overwhelmed her body as she fell as she fell toward the Earth. The war still raged above her, she could see it through the portal she had fallen through. Swords clashed and battle cries roared. The young woman shed a tear as the scene faded above her.  


The bloodstained white fabric whipped around her frame, her wild brown hair tangled in her harsh decent. Her body collided with the ground and rebounded like a ragdoll, the impact forced the air out of her lungs like a content sigh. A moment of beauty in a tragic time.  


She sat up and wiped her tears away, the blood on her hand smeared across her cheeks like war paint. She would have worn war paint if not for the ambush.  
The attack had been the start of a surprising war that would rage on and on unless she could return to stop it. Her claim to an ancient and important throne on the line. Her father had proclaimed that it would belong to her, his firstborn. But her brother, a jealous and greedy beast, contested her right. He was he vile beginner of the fight.  


She stood and tried to identify where she was. The air was different, heavier, and the gravity was lighter. There were trees all around, but not like a forest. They were squat with twisted branches like mythical monsters. From their branches hung ripe red apples.  


Earth, she was on Earth. She wasn’t too far away from her home. Pain seized her body and the woman realized what a ragged state she was in. It looked like she would be stuck on Earth until she could regain her strength.  


Her brother could make no doubt, she would return to reclaim her throne and save her family. She was Athena, first born of Zeus. Goddess of wisdom and strategic warfare. True heir to the throne of Olympus. And it would be hers once again.


	2. Not Your Ordinary Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Athena receives a call that disrupts her day.

The Upper East Side of New York City was known for its elegant brownstones. Clustered together to form a great wall of brick and stucco, accented with windows and little staircases. They were best known for being the homes of the social elite, people the mortals treated like modern-day gods. But they would never consider the brownstones a place where a goddess would reside.  


Goddesses were supposed to live in grand palaces or hidden hovels in the woods. Not common townhouses in New York City. It was hard to picture one sitting on the back patio with her feet popped up on the bistro table, a book laid across her lap. Enjoying a cup of tea in the crisp fall air. It certainly wasn’t a balcony overlooking the grand waterfalls of Olympus but the patio’s high brick walls, cascading greenery, and marble fountain were just as good.  


The house was a gift after all, and who was the great goddess Athena to reject gifts when there were so few to be had. And she needed somewhere to enjoy her days off.  


After her fall, S.H.I.E.L.D. offered her a proposition since she was stuck on Earth for an indefinite amount of time. S.H.I.E.L.D. would help her find a job and housing and help her assimilate into human life and Athena wouldn’t cause any trouble. She raised a little ruckus with the townhouse ordeal but, in her defense, it was an unused safehouse excluded from any of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s records. After she sweet-talked Fury into letting her inhabit the property, his superiors weren’t the happiest.  


It was a five-thousand square foot masterpiece. Two floors were dedicated to master bedrooms, one of which Athena turned into a private museum of sorts. And the rooftop terrace was perfect for gazing at the night sky and wishing for more stars. She could host fabulous parties if she wanted to. But for parties she needed friends and Athena was short on those.  
For the time being, she enjoyed having a big place for herself and her books. The one she held in her hands was an old favorite. The worn, aged pages felt familiar against her fingertips. The ancient script scrawled along them made her miss her home.  


Golden sunlight streamed down through the clear November sky. Birds chirped and flitted from the little house concealed in the foliage. The only way the day could get better was if it was a little warmer. She took another sip of tea from her still warm mug before she retired back inside.  


The book found its place on the shelf once again and the mug to the sink in the upstairs kitchen. She went up another flight on the spiral staircase and into the bedroom that she turned into a little museum. It had an old Victorian glamour hidden behind her collections. Birchwood parquet floors, a marble fireplace, and a cream color scheme. Pottery from private collectors and hundreds of books from libraries. Handwoven tapestries hung about the walls.  


Athena had made it a hobby to collect things that reminded her of home. Little statue horses and paintings of muses and gods. A few ottomans and settees and even potted olive and citrus trees.  


Athena’s bedroom was the only room that resembled an actual home instead of a museum. After staying with a host family for so long, Athena had gotten used to modern styles. Mahogany wood paneling, glass tiled floors, and a bathtub large enough for two that faced a fireplace. Of course, she couldn’t forget about the King-sized bed with more than enough pillows. In Olympus, she slept with a thin sheet to cover her. Now, she couldn’t fall asleep without a heavy comforter pulled up to her chin. Unlike in the summer with her host family.  


There was only one window air conditioning unit for the apartment and it was in the living room. When the bedroom fans didn’t provide enough circulation, Athena and her brothers would set up camp in the living room. Making forts out of the couch cushions and pillows and staying up much later than Lydia wanted them too. It was great to feel like a kid without responsibility, something she missed during the war in Olympus.  


The Manikas was first-generation Greek Immigrants with ties to S.H.I.E.L.D. And they accepted a strange woman from a strange land with open arms. Lydia and Kostas Manikas had three sons who were rowdy and kept Athena on her toes. There was once a prank war lasting three weeks, it was only stopped by The Great Christmas Truce of 1989.  


Christmas was coming soon. And with the Manikas’ huge family it was always a big festivity. They rented out a community center for the party and hosted a mini-Olympics. Athena thought about offering up her house as a fee-free alternative but other than the basement there wasn’t enough room to fit all of the uncles, aunts, and cousins that came along with being a Manikas. And the kitchen certainly wasn’t large enough to hold all the food.  


As Athena picked up the hamper from her bathroom, her cell phone rang, the symbol for S.H.I.E.L.D appeared on the screen. She set the basket back down and answered it urgently. A call meant an emergency that Athena’s inferiors couldn’t handle.  


“Doctor Pallas, we know it’s your day off, but we need you to come in. We have a special case for you to look at,” a nurse stated, a hushed urgency to her voice.  
Athena sighed and made her way back down the stairs, “Alright, I’ll be there as soon as possible.”  


She was not dressed to be anywhere near the medical wing. Her oversized sweatshirt, jogger sweatpants and fuzzy socked feet didn’t exude medical professionalism. She shoved her feet into a pair of athletic trainers and squeaked across the green marble floor of the entryway, grabbing her coat and keys on her way out the door. No one on the street cared to look at the woman in the trench coat climbing into the Suburban on the side of the road.  


It was only a quick drive from the townhouse to the Triskelion on Roosevelt Island. Clouds rolled in as she traveled, blocking out the comforting sun and bringing bitter winds with them. She left her car in the S.H.I.E.L.D authorized parking lot and took the ferry to the dock of the Triskelion like she would on any other morning.  


But unlike the usual morning routine, the medical wing swarmed with agents and doctors all talking over one another. Mortals would never change. All Athena heard was “attacked agent” and “lucky to be alive”.  


“Stop talking!” she barked, “Your words won’t help him. Either show me where he is or let him die.”  


They pushed open the door to reveal the unconscious agent.  


“He was attacked at a surveillance point and started seizing when he came into contact with epinephrine. There are no obvious wounds on his body and we have no idea what caused it,” Athena’s colleague stated.  


“Are you sure you didn’t find anything?”  


“Well here are his blood test results, you can look through them and tell me if you see anything unusual.”  


He handed Athena a manila folder and she flipped through it. Unusual didn’t begin to describe it. Strange symbols decorated the page, printed in strange lines and overlapping in places. Athena recognized none of them and she knew several languages that used characters instead of the Latin alphabet.  


“Is this a joke?”  


The doctor adjusted his glasses, “No. The machine went haywire. Beeping and shaking. Every button flashing. It spat out those results before completely breaking down. Maintenance is working on it right now, but it may be a loss.”  


Athena took a pen out of her co-worker's breast pocket and found a blank page. She sketched what symbols she could pick out of the mess. They still looked unfamiliar.  


“Whatever happened to him was alien. There’s no way it’s from Earth.”  


The doctor gaped, “But… that’s impossible. We’re at peace with Asgard.”  


“That doesn’t mean we’re at peace with every alien race. Thor isn’t even on Earth as far as I know,” Athena sighed and snapped the folder shut. “I’m going to figure this out. No one disturbs me unless there’s another incident.”  


The colleague nodded and she threw herself back into the corridor, expecting a crowd of expectant professionals awaiting her. Instead, the hall was empty, save for the two orderlies meant to attend the victim.  


“I want eyes on him 24/7. If anything changes you let me know.”

X|X|X|X|X|X 

Athena’s office had a wall of windows that faced south. Observing the waters of the East River until the bend was swallowed up by the East Village and Green Point. Seeing as it was a place Athena spent a lot of time, she acquired the necessary items to make it more “homey”.  


A bookshelf with a few quick reads, a simple glass vase that housed fresh blooms, and a couple of rugs for texture. And for late nights, the bottom drawer of her filing cabinet hid a cozy blanket and small pillow. It was a shame she couldn’t get curtains, or at least blinds, for the massive wall of windows.  


Two hours later, Athena sat at the holo-table in her office with various figures hovering in the air. She narrowed down the languages. The symbols weren’t Norse, Asgardian, Chitauri, Greek, Olympian, hell they weren’t even cuneiform. But she knew they were part of a spell. Magic and technology didn’t mix, especially old magic.  


S.H.I.E.L.D’s archives held no information about alien races besides the Chitauri. She wished she could take the file home and work, she had more resources there, but S.H.I.E.L.D was touchy about what information they allowed outside the walls of the Triskelion.  


A few minutes passed and she found herself flipping through Agent Stone’s file. Married with a child and another on the way. Employed during the battle of New York and worked on the evacuation effort. The S.H.I.E.L.D Academy scouted him because of his high standardized testing scores and brute physicality.  


Someone with such a high understanding of complex problem solving and biomedical engineering wasted their talents in the field. Maybe after the incident, he would retire to the bionics department and help create new tech. If he stayed alive.  


Using old magic on Earth was tricky. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t. Athena had experience with a few choice cases. Like with Arachne… well, that was personal and the outcome was desirable either way.  


She sighed in defeat and tossed another piece of paper onto the holo table. It passed through a cuneiform tablet on its way, causing it to shimmer and wave. Athena’s chair scraped back as she stood. Maybe paying another visit to the victim would help her.  


If a spell was used against this man, there would be an identifier on his body. All spells left a trace behind. Something that could be used to find either the caster of the spell or which spell it was. And that would be enough of a clue.  


Agent Stone’s body was serene. His chest rose up and down with the steady beep of the heart monitor and soft whoosh of the ventilator. Athena lifted his arm and checked for a brand, an insignia, anything. There was none. She checked every part of his body for something that might give her a clue as to what spell the attacker used, but her searches were futile. Only the pinkish-purple hues of the bruising. If someone was using powerful sorcery, why were there so many marks of a physical fight?  


She decided that her visit was futile and got up to leave, but Agent Stone started moving. Athena turned, expecting to see him awake and incoherent. Instead, he thrashed. His wild movement shook the bed and machines around him.  


Athena rushed to his side. The heart monitor picked up speed and his breathing was erratic. As Athena watched him shake, his hand seized her neck, squeezing. Agent Stone’s tremors ceased and he sat straight up in the hospital bed.  


“He’s coming…”  


In an odd state of panic, Athena clawed at her attacker's hands. He only squeezed harder. Athena’s vision grew hazy then bright white as she firmly placed her hands on Agent Stone’s arms. Against her own will, Athena muttered ancient words with her choked breath. Golden light surrounded her hands, creeping up Stone’s arms and to his neck. His eyes reflected the gold light. His arms went slack and he fell back against the pillow.  


Agent Stone’s body stilled, the heart monitor returned to its regular pattern. Athena’s knees collided with the floor, her hands caressing her throat. From above Agent Stone let out a hoarse whisper.  


“Ares…”  


The one word struck fear in Athena’s heart. Her brother, God of Chaotic War, usurped her throne and tried to kill her. He knew she was alive and he was pissed. So pissed he forced a mortal to do his bidding.  


Athena used the bed rail to pull herself up and look at Agent Stone. His head lolled to the side, jaw slack, eyes unseeing.  


“How do you know my brother?”  


No response. Ares wouldn’t dignify himself with dealing with mortals. One of his henchmen would have done it. Which meant they were still in New York City and Athena alerted them to her presence.  


Using her healing powers put a burst of energy into the world, like the way phones put out GPS signals. Except Athena’s GPS signals were undetectable to mortals and their technology, only other Olympians. And Asgardians considering the two were closely related. It was a risk to the safety of Earth and Athena, but it was worth the risk. That man had a family that he needed to return to and Athena knew that she would have a little time before Ares came for her. And that was enough.  


A gaggle of nurses rushed into the room, meaning to attend to their distressed patient, but became confused at the sight of Athena on the floor and their patient in a deep sleep.  
“Doctor Pallas? Is everything okay?” one of them spoke.  


The use of magic exhausted Athena. That was new. She reached her hand out as a coughing fit took hold. She looked like a mess. Strands of dark brown hair loosened from her braid, face blushed from fighting off the cursed agent.  


Another nurse helped her up and into the plastic chair against the wall. Her breath was still ragged as she tried to explain what happened. She realized there was no way to explain the events.  


“Just a coughing fit,” she assured them as she finally caught a steady breath, “Bet you didn’t know I was an asthmatic.”  


Athena tried to laugh it off. The nursing staff gave her uneasy smiles.  


“He’ll be awake soon,” she warned before dismissing them and heading back to her office, hoping she could lock the door and take a nap. Hopefully, the walls were thick enough no one would hear her snoring.  


She unlocked her office only to find Maria Hill sitting in the desk chair.  


“You look like shit,” the agent commented.  


Maria Hill and Athena had entered the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy at the same time. They were sparring partners and despised each other to the bone. Athena was a natural at combat, she had the timing, strength, and stamina. Maria was slower but she had fire and Athena respected it.  


One night Athena found Maria in the training room past curfew, fighting an automated bot and getting her ass kicked. Athena stepped in and offered to go easy on her when they fought. Maria made a face and told Athena to give it all she had. After giving her pointers, Maria had Athena pinned. Of course, Athena let Maria win as a confidence boost. But the two were thick as thieves afterward.  


“I’ve got a case stranger than Roswell,” Athena said.  


She slumped into the leather armchair across from her desk and threw her feet up.  


“Really?”  


“Really.”  


“So I suppose that means you won’t be up for a little fun tonight?”  


Athena considered it for a minute. She had an odd case that she was desperate to solve, was just attacked by a patient with a connection to the brother trying to murder her, and was exhausted from her use of magic.  


“That depends on what you have planned?”  


“I’m having dinner with this really nice guy I met in alien research and he’s got a friend, so I said that I’d bring a friend for his friend and I was hoping that you would be the friend for the friend,” she rambled.  


Athena blinked. A double date? With some random guy? Was Athena really that desperate to get away from work? If she did go home it would probably be another History channel night. Nothing but Athena, a bottle of wine, and incorrect documentaries about ancient history. And that would spiral into Athena returning to the case and staying up until the wee hours of the morning in the depths of mania.  


“Is his friend nice?”  


“He’s from communications technology. Jason told me he was a really nice guy. Just got out of a committed relationship so he’s not looking for anything. This is a one-time thing and I’ll never ask you for anything this important ever again. Just … please?”  
Athena chewed her lip and stared out the window. Rain streaked down the spotless glass, and the cloudy sky gave no clue as to where the sun was. Only grey and rainy.  


“Is he hot though?”  


Athena had always been a little shallow in her lovers. She was used to being surrounded by people with perfect features and it showed in her pickiness. It also showed in the fact that she was still single despite working in a hotspot of men looking for something to fill the void.  


“Christ Ana, I don’t know! Will you just do this for me?”  


“If he’s ugly, you’ll never hear the end of it.”  


“I figured as much. So you’ll do it?”  


“You’ve worn me down.”  


Maria burst into a flurry of ‘thank you’s before she hurried out of the office. Athena would have to stop at home to grab suitable clothes for a date. She doubted sweatpants and athletic trainers were allowed through the doors of the fancy restaurant Maria named. At least her evening still involved wine and good food.  


She did feel bad for abandoning the case, but she was too tired to fall into a manic episode and stay up all night researching ancient languages. Agent Stone and Ares would have to wait until tomorrow morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoy my work please consider buy me a coffee <3 https://ko-fi.com/F1F313ECS


	3. Chapter 2: A Date With Destiny

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Athena's "relaxing" night out is interrupted by the fates' grand design and she's left with more questions than answers.

The restaurant that Maria chose was an extravagant Italian place not too far from the famous Avengers Tower. _La Gondola di Venezia_. The whole place was decorated in gold and marble, with frescoed ceilings, pseudo-Renaissance paintings, and Tuscan columns. Despite it’s gaudiness, The Gondola offered a warm reprieve from the bitter wind and rain outside.  


The menu promised delicacies of Venice and wines imported from the coastal city. Yet, none of them aged well enough to be worth the price point. The same applied to the cheese board placed in front of her several minutes ago. The goddess was no expert in fine cheeses, she left that duty to Dionysus, but she knew a proper imported Italian cheese from a cheap knock off from Whole Foods.  


Maria and Jason sat at the table in front of Athena and her date, Michael, which made contact between the two friends hard. The only thing Maria told Athena was that he worked in technical communications. She failed to mention how he looked eerily similar to Adonis, who Athena had a short fling with back before Aphrodite grew attached. It was Athena who introduced the two when she grew bored and was desperate to be free of him.  


No matter how many times Athena squinted her eyes and tilted her head, she still could not find a single way to make him look any less like her ancient ex. And the worst part was he took her squints and head tilts as confusion, so he kept prattling on about useless things. The waitress took the menus, so Athena took to setting her gaze on the ceiling, the walls, or taking long sips of her wine to avoid eye contact. Which wasn’t strong enough to get her anywhere near buzzed.  


Athena regretted going home to change her clothes. It was a waste of gas, time, energy, and a new white designer mini dress and Louboutin heels.  


“You see, the trick to getting a perfect pitch is to have the communicator on first, and while that is happening you twist the peacock colored wire until the static is completely phased out. Then-”  


_Oh my queen mother_. Athena took another sip of her wine. Her sip turned into several gulps as he diverged from static to the reasoning behind colored wires. It was like a drinking game. Rule 1: Drink anytime Michael spoke, continue drinking until he finished or your glass was empty. She looked at her empty glass with disdain. A great yawn escaped her. Athena hadn’t seen the waitress in a while and she needed two more bottles of wine.  


And then the date took a turn from bad to much worse.  


“You know, I don’t go out very much, but you have to be one of the most attractive women I have ever been set up with.” he complimented.  


Make that _three_ more bottles of wine. Athena contemplated asking one of the passing wait staff to hit her over the head with a serving tray.  


“Oh, please.”  


She played nice and instead of an eye roll, she tucked her hair behind her ear. Someone had to pay the tab and Athena didn’t want to. She gave the back of her chandelier earring a push and let it fall. The large piece clattered when it hit the imitation marble flooring.  


“Oh my gosh I am so sorry, I am just the klutziest person.” Athena babbled.  


“Here, let me get it.” Michael offered and ducked under the table to retrieve her jewelry.  


Before he came back up, Athena gave Maria a desperate look, but the poor girl was so engrossed in her date’s story she failed to see her friend in need. How much longer did Maria expect her to sit through the date from Hades?  


Michael handed her the earring and she put it back into her ear, smiling with faux gratefulness. _Father give me an excuse to end this date. Please? For your favorite child?_  


No reply.  


“Have you ever thought about modeling? It seems like a far more fitting profession for you.”  


Athena reached for a bottle of wine from a passing waitress and, while pouring her wine, stated, “And what did Maria tell you I do?”  


Michael smiled, “She didn’t have to. You’re the second-highest rated doctor in New York, right behind Doctor Strange of course. But you’re far too pretty to spend your life in an operating room.  


“Thank you for what I think was supposed to be a compliment, but I didn’t spend half my life preparing to enter the medical field to be told that modeling would be a more suitable job for me.”  


She took another long drink of her wine.  


“I just thought…”  


“Oh no, I understood what you said. You thought that I would blindly accept the words that just came out of your mouth as a compliment.”  


Michael tried to defend himself, sputtering over whatever excuse he thought would save himself. Athena rolled her eyes and took another drink. Rule 2: Drink until you can’t feel anything anymore. Another yawn. Athena felt the weight of her eyelids. If this date took any longer she was like to fall asleep before the entrees arrived. Another yawn.  


She could hide in the ladies room. Fancy places like _La Gondola di Venezia_ had to have elaborate powder rooms, the kind that Marilyn Monroe sat and fixed her makeup at in those old movies. The blonde bombshell had to have avoided a few dates in her time.  


A shiver raced up Athena’s spine, the hair on her neck and arms standing. Something was wrong. The last time she had a sensation, a war broke out. She analysed her surroundings with the critical eye every warrior possessed.  


The restaurant patrons were all dining, chatting as though nothing was wrong. Maria looked safe and there were no strange noises coming from the kitchen. The threat had to be in the street.  


She pushed her chair back and headed for the doors of the restaurant.  


“Is everything okay?” Michael asked.  


He reached out and grabbed on to her arm, trying to persuade her back to the table while begging forgiveness for what he said but Athena persisted on. Maria followed her out the door and into the bustling crowds of late night tourists.  


“Hello, Ana, are you okay?” her friend called.  


The cold night air chilled her as her eyes scanned the passing faces. She didn’t grab her coat she realized. The autumn rain dampened her hair and exposed arms. A burst of light shimmered between two buildings before disappearing.  


“Ana what the hell is going on?”  


Athena pushed past people, forging through the traffic and into the alley, where a body sat propped against the dumpster. Shirt drenched in blood, soaked from the rain, unconscious. Just the victim of a mugging. So why did her senses perk up like that?  


She approached with caution, in case the attacker lingered. Despite the rain, Athena recalled the blonde hair and handsome features of Steve Rogers. His picture was a common appearance in textbooks when Athena studied super human biochemistry. But that wasn’t the only place Athena noticed Steve from.  


To the other agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, and Athena, Captain America was a legend. A mythical creature that did miraculous things but was never seen. Like the heroes she watched when she commanded battles from the heavens. Captain America was as good as any Achilles, Perseus, or Heracles. In fact, he was better. He wasn’t petty and he cared about the good of the people instead of his pride. Men like him were a rarity.  


Athena knelt, the loose gravel pressing into her knees, and pressed her fingers to Steve’s neck to feel his pulse. It was faint but present, it was hope.  


Blood drenched his shirt and made it impossible to see where it originated from. Athena had no choice but to rip his shirt open.  


There were three wounds. One on his heart, one below his sternum, and one near his liver. Black market? No, she encountered the work of black market scavengers before. They slit throats or used lethal injections after they kidnapped their victims, a scavenger wouldn’t leave anything behind.  


Even more interesting was the fact that Captain America, one of the fiercest warriors in the whole world, allowed an attacker to harm in that way. The wounds would have been life-threatening on someone else, but not Steve Rogers.  


Athena tore clean pieces of Steve’s shirt and used them to clear the blood away from the wounds to get a better look. The wounds didn’t repair themselves as they should have and they were odd shaped. It was more efficient to use her healing powers, but she couldn’t in front of people. And the events of the day exhausted her, another use and she would be lucky if she didn’t wake up in her own medical wing.  


She looked at Maria. Athena’s coat was slung over her arm, her clutch tucked in Maria’s elbow. Inside the small purse was Athena’s emergency sewing kit. She never left the house unprepared and sewing utensils worked in place of medical grade instruments if one was desperate enough.  


“Maria, my purse.”  


Slipping into full surgeon mode, Athena opened her purse and grabbed her travel size bottle of hand sanitizer and sewing kit.  


“Fury’s sending a vehicle. Is there anything I can do?” Maria asked.  


"Thread these needles. I know it’s not medical grade, but it’s the best I can do on short notice.”  


Athena rinsed her hands with sanitizer and doused a piece of the shirt with it. She wiped over the wounds and held out her hand to request a needle from Maria.  


“I need you to hold the two sides together, but keep your hands away from the open wound.”  


Maria did as told, her hands as steady as Athena’s. With careful strokes, Athena closed the heart wound and placed a strip of clean tee-shirt over it before she moved on to the other two. Her rain slicked hands made the work hard, but she soldiered on, wiping her free hand on her coat to dry it between stitches. It wasn’t the worst conditions she’d ever worked under. She was at ground zero on 9/11. There wasn’t rain, but it was the most stressful work she’d ever done.  


By the time the S.H.I.E.L.D emergency vehicle arrived, Athena had all her temporary stitches done. Blood stained her hands, legs, and dress. If no one knew better, they would think Athena committed the attack herself.  


The medics hopped out of the back and loaded Steve onto a stretcher. One of them offered Athena a blanket and something to wipe her hands with.  


“Be careful. He’s lost a lot of blood and he isn’t healing properly. Those stitches are weak and he’ll need to be in the OR ASAP.”  


Director Nick Fury stepped down from a separate SUV flanked by two other agents. His imposing stature and clothing only more so in the dim light of the alley way.  


“Did anyone see him?” Fury demanded.  


“We’re not sure. Whatever attacked him did it quick and discreet.” Athena explained.  


“I’m still not sure how Ana knew he was out here.”  


“That doesn’t matter, what does is figuring out who the hell is attacking my employees. In the meantime, you two get back to the Triskelion.”  


Fury grumbled he turned to the two agents beside him and started barking orders. One of them handed Athena a clipboard with paperwork for her to fill out.  


“So, do you think what's-his-name is gonna want to see you again?” Athena asked Maria as they climbed into the back of the vehicle.  


“I’m sure I have a lot of apologizing to do.”  


“Just tell him it was important, top-secret agent stuff you had to do for Fury. I’m sure he’ll understand.”  


Maria scoffed, “What did you think of Michael?”  


“I think it would have been great if he stopped trying to explain everything to me like I was a child.”  


Maria chuckled, her shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter.  


“I’m sorry, by the way,” Athena offered.  


Athena eyed her friend. Maria was a master at hiding her inner feelings, so Athena had to tread with care around her.  


“There’s nothing to be sorry for. This was way more important than some date.”  


“But you were having fun and enjoying yourself. You deserve to have a good night without work getting in the way.”  


Maria sighed, “When your job is protecting the people, it comes before anything else.”  


Athena nodded. She had a lot of experience in protecting people. But the people she needed to protect were in danger and there was nothing she could do.

 X|X|X|X|X|X

Athena settled into her desk chair as Director Fury and his guest took a seat. She abandoned her blood stained mini dress, heels, and jewelry for borrowed scrubs and shoes. The medical coat that hung over her shoulders wasn’t even her own. Fury had come to collect her report on Captain America and Agent Stone. He was going to leave empty handed.  


She slid two pieces of paper across the holo table. Then sat back and watched for Fury’s reaction.  


“Is this a joke?”  


“You know that is exactly what I said when I first saw those results. Now we’re down two spectrophotometers. However, we were able to retest Agent Stone with a fresh sample before machine number two went down. The only outstanding thing is the oxytocin levels. They’re high and adrenaline is low. Adrenaline should be much higher considering there’s evidence of a physical fight.”  


Fury had a look of focus on his face. He reached into the bag that he carried and took out a stack of files. The folders looked older. When he placed them on the holo screen, Athena read the date on the top. _1986_. The year of her fall and subsequent residence of Earth.  
She looked at the following dates. _1990, 1996, 2001_. The dates were inconsistent and the most recent was 2001. Why were they relevant to an incident eleven years later?  


“I’ve got the avengers focused on fighting an unseen threat that appears to be connected with your Agent Stone. These files will be able to give you more information. I think you’ll be a valuable asset to this investigation.”  


“Thank you, Director Fury, but there’s a reason I don’t do field work anymore.”  


Director Fury considered Athena for a moment, his good eye sizing her up. His eye telling her- _What happened to the big bad goddess who wanted to help people?_  


“You take a look at those cases and let me know if you reconsider. Now, for the real reason, I’m here. Miss Maximoff would like to talk to you, I’ll wait outside.”  


Fury left the office, leaving the annoyed Athena to listen to Wanda’s story.  


Wanda Maximoff was a scared child when Athena first met her. She turned up at the Triskelion after New York claiming she escaped from an illegal testing facility and was looking for her brother Pierto. They lost each other in the commotion of the raid. Fury wasn’t too happy to have another orphaned superhero to look after.  


If the Avengers hadn’t already stepped in, Athena would have. She had two empty bedrooms to occupy.  


“You were the one who found him.”  


Athena nodded.  


“Thank you. Steve and I have a very strong bond… our empathic connection is stronger. It is like a telepathic link.”  


Wanda was from Sokovia, proved by her accent. Human traffickers took her and Pierto when they were young and sold them to the testing facility that was later raided. Her empathic powers were a result of testing with dangerous sorcery.  


“We- the Avengers- were getting ready to go out and eat, but we could not find Steve. He left after our meeting with Director Fury, but he never told us where he was going. That was when I felt it.”  


Her brows knit together, not in confusion, but in difficulty.  


“It was this pain, dull at first, and then it grew. I realized that it must have been Steve and I could feel where he was. And then the visions started.”  


“Do you remember them,” Athena asked.  


If the attack was from the same predator that hurt Agent Stone the visions might have something to do with Ares.  


“They came to me in pieces, very blurry pieces, but I think I can remember them.”  


Her brows furrowed again, “A woman in a red dress. Steve knew her, they had a strong connection. He was at peace. Almost as if he were… as if he were…”  


“Blissful?”  


Wanda nodded. The elevated Oxytocin and decreased adrenaline levels in Agent Stone would have numbed any outside feeling. Like an intense drug trip.  


“Then there was a pain. The room, darkness, but the woman is there. So, very, painful.”  


She gritted her teeth but continued on, red light pulsed around her hands that gripped the arms of the chair. Her eyes forced to shut as she tried to recall the visions. Her dark hair fell into her eyes. Wanda’s eyes glowed red, powerful evidence of the effort it took for her to fight her way through it.  


“Wanda if it’s too much, you don’t-”  


“No, I must. There… there was something else there. Something… like scales, gold scales. The kind used to weigh. The woman, she’s wearing white now and she’s speaking… ‘Your heart beats strong but your soul weighs heavy with all that you have lost’.”  


The vision released its grip on the young woman. Her eyes shot open and her hands released the arms of the chair, the red energy that surrounded her hands disappeared. Her tensed shoulders relaxed and she gasped. Athena let her catch her breath.  


“Did I help?”  


“Very much. Thank you for speaking with me, Wanda.”  


“Of course.”  


As Fury and Wanda left, Athena sighed and looked at her watch. 10:33. Athena thought she would to be able to sleep, but it looked like she was in for another all-night, mania fueled deep dive. But instead of new information to go on, she only had more questions.  
White dress, golden scales. _Your heart beats strong but your soul weighs heavy with all that you’ve lost_. Heart. Soul. Golden scales. Passion and balance. More questions, less answers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please tell me why I've abandoned literally every project I have to work on this?
> 
> Anyway, if you enjoy my work, consider buying me a ko-fi! https://ko-fi.com/classicbrie19

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to "A Goddess' War: The Rise of Athena"! I decided to post a little 2019 sneak peak of my upcoming Avengers Fanfic series that I have been working on for THREE years. There won't be any updates until I finish "Journey to the Past", which should be quick. I apologize that you'll have to wait, but I was just so excited to get this story out there!


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